Rural Scottish schools suffer as language teacher numbers plummet

Scotland has seen a “staggering” drop in the number of English and modern language teachers over the last decade, figures show, with only seven Italian teachers left across the country.

Language teachers in Scotland have fallen by 546 between 2010 and 2022. Rural schools have lost 322 language teachers across all four language subjects between the period, accounting for 58.9 per cent of all losses.

The number of French teachers fell by 319, declining from 947 to 628, with 135 affecting local authorities in remote areas. German teachers declined by 83, from 166 in 2010, across Scotland, 34 of which came from rural schools. Italian teachers declined from ten in 2010 to seven in 2022. No rural schools have an Italian teacher, according to analysis

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